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A commercial diver at work, Aquastar Benthos on the wrist

A Dive Into Time

Sixty years in the workshop.

From the 1957 Model 60 to the 2026 Deepstar III, sixty years of Swiss dive watch heritage, told in twelve dates. Still on the wrist of working commercial divers.

Or read the full 15,000-word history →

  1. 1957

    The Model 60 skindiver

    Frédéric Robert designs the Model 60: a 37 mm steel cushion case, a 60-minute rotating bezel, water resistance to 100 meters. The watch that gives the skindiver category its name.

    See the Model 60 collection →

  2. 1959

    The first analog dive computer

    JeanRichard® S.A., the workshop that will become Aquastar S.A., files patent N° 351 225, a wrist-mounted instrument carrying a watch, a bathymeter, a compass, and a thermometer on a single rectangular plate. Inventor of record: Frédéric Robert. The conceptual ancestor of every wrist-worn dive computer.

    Read about Frédéric Robert →

  3. 1960

    Don Walsh, Challenger Deep

    US Navy oceanographer Don Walsh wears an Aquastar 60 during the bathyscaphe Trieste’s descent to Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean.

    Who has worn an Aquastar →

  4. 1962

    Aquastar S.A. is registered

    On 13 February 1962 the workshop is registered with the Swiss federal patent office as Aquastar S.A., ci-devant JeanRichard® S.A., Genève. Patent N° 1713/62 is filed the same year: an inside-the-case rotating bezel by Jaques Ochsenbein and Raoul-H. Erard.

  5. 1964

    The no-decompression bezel

    Marc Jasinski, working for Robert in Geneva, files patent CH 436 140 for a multiple-dive no-decompression chronograph bezel. The bezel carries two scales: an inner 60-minute elapsed-time scale and an outer scale calibrated to the French Marine Nationale decompression tables. The same geometry sits on every Aquastar Deepstar made today.

    Read about the Deepstar bezel →

  6. 1965

    The Airstar pilot’s chronograph

    The 1965 aviation chronograph. Worn by Jacques Mayol, the free-diving pioneer, and by Philippe Cousteau. The 60th anniversary Re-Edition returns in 2025 with a Soigné-grade La Joux-Perret L113 column-wheel calibre.

    See the Airstar collection →

  7. 1970

    Five hundred meters

    The Benthos 500, the first Swiss dive watch rated to 500 meters without a monobloc case, using a screwed case back and a new dual-gasket pattern. Added to the U.S. Navy diving manual the same year.

    See the Benthos collection →

  8. 1979

    Issued to the French Navy

    The Benthos II is issued to the Marine Nationale (French Navy) and worn by French combat divers through 1984.

  9. 1984

    Quartz, and a quiet pivot

    As the quartz crisis hits Geneva, the mechanical dive line winds down. The workshop pivots to the Regatta 2000, a digital regatta timer for competitive sailing. It is made in the same Geneva workshop, by the same hands, for the next thirty-six years.

  10. 2020

    Mechanical returns

    After thirty-six years on quartz, Aquastar returns to mechanical dive watches. The Deepstar 2020: a 39 mm column-wheel chronograph using a movement custom-built by La Joux-Perret to honour the original Valjoux 23. Limited to 1,200 pieces across four dial colours, sold out in five months.

    See the Deepstar collection →

  11. 2024

    Benthos H1 returns

    The Benthos H1, a modern revival of the 1970 500-meter architecture, ships in 2024.

  12. 2026

    Deepstar III closes the loop

    The Deepstar III, hand-wound column-wheel chronograph, ships in 2026: the watch that closes the loop on what Robert started.

    Read the full history (≈ 15,000 words) →

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See the modern Aquastar collection.

All watches A Dive Into Time

JeanRichard® is a trademark of its respective owner. Aquastar is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by it. Historical references on this page describe the Geneva workshop that was renamed Aquastar S.A. in 1962.

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